During pregnancy, a woman may require additional support adjacent the belly area while sleeping. More specifically, the enlarged belly of a pregnant woman may cause discomfort while sleeping. Accordingly, several maternity or body pillows exist to provide some support adjacent the belly of a pregnant women.
One such pillow, for example, is distributed by “The Comfort Store” under the tradename “The Bean Maternity Pillow”. This pillow includes a pair of smaller pillows that are connected to one another using a hook and loop fastener. One of the pair of pillows is to be positioned adjacent the belly of the user, and the other pillow is to be positioned adjacent the lower back of the user. The positioning of the pair of pillows is intended to provide support to the belly and lower back of the pregnant woman.
Another such pillow, for example, is distributed by “One-Stop Baby” under the tradename “Pregnancy Body Pillow”. This pillow includes a pair of elongate pillows that are connected to one another using a hook and loop fastener. The pair of pillows are to be positioned to extend adjacent the length of the user so that the pillows may support the belly portion and rear of the pregnant woman.
These pillows may, however, not have a use to the woman after her pregnancy is over. Therefore, the user is required to find storage space for the pillows when not in use. This may be a greater issue for the “Pregnancy Body Pillow” as it includes elongate pillows.
After the infant is born, parents may find it necessary to provide an enclosed area within which the infant may sleep or play. In cases when a family is traveling, and also in cases when a crib or play pen may not be available, parents sometimes place the infant in what may be considered improper, and sometimes unsafe, enclosed areas. For example, some parents may lay the infant on a bed, and form an enclosed area using pillows.
Some portable play areas exist to provide parents with an enclosed area to be used for the infant. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,013 to Bloom discloses a foldable infant play mat. The foldable infant play mat includes a base and a circular pillow carried by the base. The circular pillow may be removed from the base, as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 6. The base may be folded and the circular pillow enclosed therein to form a half-circle folded play mat to be transported by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,139, also to Bloom discloses a portable play mat and carrying case. The play mat includes a circular base, and a circular pillow carried by the base. The carrying case is stitched to the base along the bottom and provides a pocket within which the circular base and the circular pillow may be positioned. The carrying case includes a zipper closure and a handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,463 to Palacio discloses a baby play mat having a base and removable bumpers. The removable bumpers are carried by an upper portion of the base and may be connected to one another using hook and loop fasteners. The bumpers may be stacked to provide greater height to the enclosed area. Such a play area, however, may be cumbersome to transport, and may be complicated to assemble.
Accordingly, there exist elongate pillows and play areas. Therefore, a pregnant woman may require the use of an elongate maternity pillow during her pregnancy, and will likely require storage space for the pillow after her pregnancy is completed. Thereafter, after the infant is born, parents may purchase a portable play area for the infant. This is disadvantageously cost ineffective, and requires still further storage space.